"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." ~Philippians 4:6

Thursday, August 22, 2013

How do you Trust God?

This question has been boggling my mind for some time now.

Since my 30 day challenge, God has really been working in my heart and teaching me what it means to trust him. Everything I have read always says to 'just trust him,' and of course I want to! But the question I continue to have is, how? How do you actually do that? How do you trust God? Because just saying the words and attempting to will my heart to 'feel' that way, doesn't seem to work!

I am currently reading "Trusting God" by Sharon Jaynes, Gwen Smith, and Mary Southerland. Between this book, prayer, and God's word, I believe I'm starting to actually 'get' how to go about trusting him.

You know when you are going through a tough time, you almost get tunnel vision? It's as if all you can think about is what you are going through, the what-ifs, the worries, anxieties, heartbreak. It almost seems impossible to think about much else because you are so consumed by these trials in your life.

For me, my current 'trial' has been with my son. He has so many food allergies and intolerances that mean hidden (occult) blood in his stools and a rein on my diet while I continue nursing him. It has been tough! There are days I am so discouraged, wondering why God won't heal my baby, wondering why we are going through this, praying for healing, wisdom, and strength. I seem to do well (lately) with trusting God with the little things. But the big things? Like the healing of my son? That is an area I have trouble with.

So how do you actually trust God?

Here is what I have learned:

1. Think on God's goodness - REMEMBER ways he has moved and been faithful in the past - this is why it's so important to write these things down!
2. Reading and meditating on scripture
3. Prayer - I recommend journaling some of your prayers
4. Worship music - fill yourself up with words and praise music that point to him

Basically in a nutshell:

FOCUS ON HIM.

Lift your eyes from your situation, and put your focus on Jesus by doing some of those things listed above.

God is so much bigger than your situation and your circumstances. He is a big, powerful, God. And he can change things in an instant if it's in his will to do so. But sometimes, he allows us to go through things for a reason. We may not always know or understand what that reason could possibly be, but he always has a reason and he knows what's best for us.

It's like when you have children. In the book Trusting God, there is a chapter I read today that talked about a little boy who had a terrible case of the flu. He was crying out to his mother, pleading through tears, for her to save him, to not let the doctors hurt him, as they strapped him down to inject him with IV's. The mother was crying, her son was crying, and she tried to tell him that they weren't hurting him, that they were helping him to get better.

God feels our pain with us. When we hurt, he hurts. But he knows what's best, just like the mother knew that the doctors were helping her son and those fluids were what was best for him at that time. The journey to get well was littered with pain, but in the end it all came together. We can't always see the whole picture, like the boy who couldn't understand why he was going through what he was. But God can. He sees the end result. He is good. He is faithful.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

I have to make the decision to trust God with my son's health. I'm an organizer, teacher by nature, and so I prefer 'steps' to get to my acquired goal. By doing those 4 steps, I have seen my trust in God grow over this past month. I am learning to trust him in more areas of my life, and he is working on me with this bigger issue - the healing of my son. Even if he chooses not to heal him, God is still good and I will trust him no matter the path he decides to take us on.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.“As the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your waysand my thoughts than your thoughts." ~Isaiah 55:8-9

What areas in your life are you having difficulty trusting God? What can you do today that will help you to make that decision?